The IC² Institute has supported small business development in Austin since 1989 with the founding of the Austin Technology Incubator, which has has helped more than 250 Austin-based companies collectively raise over $1 billion of investment.

Central Texas has been a leader in developing new avenues for funding small business since the early 80s, when the IC² Institute founded the Texas Capital Network, which was a precursor to the Central Texas Angel Network and a number of angel networks throughout the state. The Institute has also been pivotal in research on the development of small ventures, from Technology Venturing conferences and publications in the eighties through the Hispanic-owned Business Survey and Black-owned Business Survey conducted by the Institute’s Bureau of Business Research in 2012-2014.

The IC² Institute’s latest contribution to the development of small business in Austin is the FastForward Entrepreneur Training Program to be offered in Fall 2016, developed at the request of the City of Austin Economic Development Department. The FastForward program will offer an intensive 12-week training experience for teams of two representatives from local small businesses. Training sessions will be complemented with one-on-one mentoring sessions. The training will provide the necessary theory and tools to investigate and validate market and product claims, financial models, and go-to-market strategies.

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